Colombia Is Threatening To Sue Walmart Over A Cocaine-Themed Holiday Sweater

Walmart is offering a particularly unusual example of how third-party marketplaces can get the companies operating them into real trouble. Over the weekend, the retailer apologized for a sweater on the marketplace of its Canadian site depicting a wide-eyed snowman in a Santa outfit in front of three lines of what the sweater and its description intimated was cocaine. Beneath the image on the sweater it read “Let it snow,” and the description said, “We all know how snow works. It’s white, powdery and the best snow comes straight from South America. That’s bad news for jolly old St. Nick, who lives far away in the North Pole. That’s why Santa really likes to savor the moment when he gets his hands on some quality, grade A, Colombian snow.” After social media users began to spot the garment, Walmart promptly removed it and other rude holiday-themed sweaters from the seller, a company called FUN Wear. It couldn’t avoid a backlash, though. A Colombian government agency has threatened to sue Walmart for associating the nation with cocaine. Read more at Quartz.